Summary
Dr. Markus Kemmelmeier received his Ph.D. in social psychology from the University of Michigan in 2001. He came to the United States from Germany in 1994 on a Fellowship from the Deutscher Academischer Austausch Dienst (German Academic Exchange Service) and went on to complete his graduate education at the University of Michigan. He joined the University of Nevada, Reno in 2001. Prior to becoming Vice Provost of Graduate Education and the Dean of the Graduate School he served as the Director of the Interdisciplinary Social Psychology Ph.D. Program (2015-2022). In 2022, he was named a University of Nevada Foundation Professor (2021). Dr. Kemmelmeier has received Dean’s Awards for Research and/or Creativity Activity, College of Liberal Arts (2009) and for Outstanding Teaching by a Member of the Continuing Faculty, College of Liberal Arts (2014). He is a Fellow of the Society of Personality and Social Psychology.
Dr. Kemmelmeier’s research focuses on cultural psychology, political psychology, interaction and social cognition, and intergroup relations. He is an expert on advanced statistical methods. Though the move into administration has shifted his energies away from research, his most recent publications focus on the evolutionary dynamics of cultural change and its intersection with infectious disease and ecological threats. Other publications concern the cultural dynamics of populism; the shrinking personality differences between liberals and conservatives; cultural factors in gender violence; and attribution of responsibility in accidents involving autonomous vehicles. Dr. Kemmelmeier’s ongoing research projects examine how individuals think about race and skin tone in the context of autonomous vehicles; the regional distributions of honor beliefs across the U.S. and Brazil; the impact of implications of ethnic, cultural, and religious diversity on the development of attitudes toward voting and democratic debate.
With an enthusiastic passion for graduate education and mentoring, Dr. Kemmelmeier has taught graduate-level courses in social psychological theory, interpersonal behavior, culture, social cognition, attitudes and group behavior. He has chaired 15 doctoral theses, 4 master’s theses, and has served on 69 doctoral committees and 10 master’s theses across 10 different Ph.D. programs and 9 master’s programs in the College of Liberal Arts, the College of Science, College of Education, College of Business, the School of Medicine, and the Reynolds School of Journalism.
Even before becoming the Graduate Dean, in over two decades at the University of Nevada, Reno, Dr. Kemmelmeier has gained ample experience in the University community, having served on more than 25 department-, college- and university-wide committees, including as Chair of the University Technology Council. As the director of an interdisciplinary graduate program under the Graduate School, he routinely interacted with faculty members and administrators across campus. Then and now, he works to foster connections and collaborative relationships across disciplines, prioritizes student success and well-being, and identifies opportunities for funding and professional advancement for graduate students.
Recent publications
- Acosta, J., & Kemmelmeier, M. (in press). The changing association between political ideology and closed-mindedness: Left and right have become more alike. Journal of Social and Political Psychology.
- Kusano, K., & Kemmelmeier, M. (2021). Cultural change through niche construction: A multilevel approach to investigate the interplay between cultural change and infectious disease. American Psychologist, 76(6), 962–982. https://doi.org/10.1037/amp0000860
- Crowder, M., McLean, C., & Kemmelmeier, M. (2022). Recommendations to disclose sexual assault are motivated by retribution among women who endorse honor values. Aggressive Behavior, 48, 55–74. https://doi.org/1002/ab.21999
- Jami, W., & Kemmelmeier, M. (2021). The social axioms of populism: Investigating the relationship of culture and populist attitudes. Journal of Social and Political Psychology. https://doi.org/10.5964/jspp.7295
- Copp, C., & Kemmelmeier, M. (2021). Autonomous vehicles in court: Judges’ perceptions of AV integration with the justice system. https://judicature.duke.edu/editions/volume-105-number-2/
- Nesbitt, I. S., & Kemmelmeier, M. (2021). Getting A’s in B-school?: Differential effects of ambitions on the course taking and academic performance of conservative and liberal college students. SN Social Sciences. https://doi.org/10.1007/s43545-021-00196-5
- Kemmelmeier, M., & Jami, W. A. (2021). Mask wearing as cultural behavior: An investigation across 45 U.S. states during the COVID-19 pandemic. Frontiers in Psychology. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.648692
- Kemmelmeier, M., Nesbitt, I. S., & Erhart, R. (2021). Skin tone bias and the U.S. Presidency: The portrayal of a Black incumbent and a Black candidate in newspaper photographs. Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy, 21, 889-916. https://doi.org/10.1111/asap.12246
- Copp, C. J., Cabell, J. J., & Kemmelmeier, M. (2021). Plenty of blame to go around: Attributions of responsibility in a fatal autonomous vehicle accident. Current Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-021-01956-5
- Jami, W., & Kemmelmeier, M. (2021). Remnants of communism and perceptions of present-day inequality. Cross-Cultural Research, 55(1) 58–91. https://doi.org/10.1177/1069397120957293
- Kusano, K., & Kemmelmeier, M. (2020). Multilevel modeling of time-series cross-sectional data reveals the dynamic interaction between ecological threats and democratic development. Royal Society Open Science 7, http://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.191804
- Wilson-Daily, A. E., & Kemmelmeier, M. (2020). Who is on our side? Complexities of national identification among native and immigrant youth in Catalonia. Journal of Youth Studies. https://doi.org/10.1080/13676261.2020.1784856
Classes taught
- Social Psychology and Culture (graduate level)
- Interpersonal Behavior (graduate level)
- Group Processes and Intergroup Relations (graduate level)
- Social Cognition (graduate level)
- Attitudes: Structure and Function (graduate level)
- Group Dynamics (undergraduate)
- Social Psychology of Education (undergraduate)
- Principles of Sociology (undergraduate)
Current graduate students
Education
- Ph.D., Psychology, University of Michigan, 2001
- M.A., Psychology, University of Michigan, 1997
- Diplom-Psychologe, Universitaet Mannheim, 1994